Charlotte of Belgium

Charlotte of Belgium (7 June 1840-19 January 1927), called Carlota of Mexico in Mexico, was Empress of Mexico from 1864 to 1867 as the wife of Maximilian I of Mexico.

Biography
Charlotte was the only surviving daughter of Leopold I of Belgium, and was a cousin of Victoria I of Britain. In 1857, she married Maximilian von Hapsburg, her cousin and the Archduke of the Austrian Empire. In 1864 she became Empress Consort of Mexico when her husband was proclaimed Emperor, and she was guarded by the Belgian Foreign Legion under Alfred van der Smissen. She had an affair with him, and had a son (Maxime Weygand), who would become a World War II general. In 1867, her husband was executed, and she returned to Belgium. Her mental state deteriorated and she was proclaimed insane, and she died in her estate in Meise in 1927.